Jean Prouve Standard Desk, France 1950
View Similar Items
Jean Prouve Standard Desk, France 1950
About the Item
- Creator:Jean Prouvé (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 63.5 in (161.29 cm)Depth: 33 in (83.82 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950's
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: 1302048853779
Jean Prouvé
Engineer and metalsmith, self-taught designer and architect, manufacturer and teacher, Jean Prouvé was a key force in the evolution of 20th-century French design, introducing a style that combined economy of means and stylistic chic. Along with his frequent client and collaborator Le Corbusier and others, Prouvé, using his practical skills and his understanding of industrial materials, steered French modernism onto a path that fostered principled, democratic approaches to architecture and design.
Prouvé was born in Nancy, a city with a deep association with the decorative arts. (It is home, for example, to the famed Daum crystal manufactory.) His father, Victor Prouvé, was a ceramist and a friend and co-worker of such stars of the Art Nouveau era as glass artist Émile Gallé and furniture maker Louis Majorelle. Jean Prouvé apprenticed to a blacksmith, studied engineering, and produced ironwork for such greats of French modernism as the architect Robert Mallet-Stevens. In 1931, he opened the firm Atelier Prouvé. There, he perfected techniques in folded metal that resulted in his Standard chair (1934) and other designs aimed at institutions such as schools and hospitals.
During World War II, Prouvé was a member of the French Resistance, and his first postwar efforts were devoted to designing metal pre-fab housing for those left homeless by the conflict. In the 1950s, Prouvé would unite with Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret (Le Corbusier’s cousin) on numerous design projects. In 1952, he and Perriand and artist Sonia Delaunay created pieces for the Cité Internationale Universitaire foundation in Paris, which included the colorful, segmented bookshelves that are likely Prouvé’s and Perriand’s best-known designs. The pair also collaborated on 1954’s Antony line of furniture, which again, like the works on 1stDibs, demonstrated a facility for combining material strength with lightness of form.
Prouvé spent his latter decades mostly as a teacher. His work has recently won new appreciation: in 2008 the hotelier Andre Balazs purchased at auction (hammer price: just under $5 million) the Maison Tropicale, a 1951 architectural prototype house that could be shipped flat-packed, and was meant for use by Air France employees in the Congo. Other current Prouvé collectors include Brad Pitt, Larry Gagosian, Martha Stewart and the fashion designer Marc Jacobs. The rediscovery of Jean Prouvé — given not only the aesthetic and practical power of his designs, but also the social conscience his work represents — marks one of the signal “good” aspects of collecting vintage 20th century design. An appreciation of Jean Prouvé is an appreciation of human decency.
- Jean Prouvé Black Compas Desk, 1950sBy Jean ProuvéLocated in New York, NYElegant desk by Jean Prouvé in black color. Produced by Atelier Jean Prouvé in 1950s. Original Oak top.Category
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Jean Prouve Desk, 1934By Jean ProuvéLocated in Paris, FRJean Prouvé "C.P.D.E" variable equipment office, 1934-35. Legs in aubergine lacquered folded sheet metal. Drawers in green lacquered folded sheet metal. Rubber top. Bibliog...Category
20th Century French Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsSteel
$49,222 - Jean Prouvé Rare Green Compas DeskBy Jean ProuvéLocated in New York, NYElegant green desk by Jean Prouvé in green color. Original untouched condition, produced by Atelier Jean Prouvé in 1950s.Category
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Industrial desk in a style of Jean ProuvéBy Jean ProuvéLocated in Nijlen, VANThis nice desk is probably from the 1950s from France. This type of industrial furniture is typified by its industrial but elegant look. Someone who was very good at this was Jean Pr...Category
Vintage 1950s Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Jean Prouve Style La Residence Universitaire Jean Zay Student DeskBy Jean ProuvéLocated in West Hollywood, CAIn the style of Jean Prouve a patinated eggshell blue student desk with single drawer and in inset white laminate top from the dormitories of the La Residence Universitaire Jean Zay,...Category
Vintage 1950s French Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsWood, Beech
- Vintage Industrial Jean Prouvé Style One Seat School DeskBy Jean ProuvéLocated in Amsterdam, NLWonderful Vintage Industrial school desk. In the style of Jean Prouvé Striking French design from the 1950s /60s. Green lacquered met...Category
Vintage 1950s French Industrial Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsMetal